Postmaster General Dejoy testifies on Capitol Hill

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is testifying in front of lawmakers today. Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous, Brian Sozzi, and Rick Newman discuss the details.

Video Transcript

BRIAN SOZZI: The embattled head of the US Postal Service, Louis DeJoy, is being raked over the coals right now by lawmakers. It's unsurprising, given the uproar over mail-in voting and DeJoy's involvement with team Trump. I want to bring in Yahoo Finance senior columnist Rick Newman. Rick, I know you're moderating the blogs and Twitter. What are some of the early headlines?

RICK NEWMAN: Well, I think he's generating a lot of skepticism among people who are upset with the delays in the Postal Service and other things that are happening there. He said he was not aware that all these sorting machines had been removed and a bunch of the blue postal drop boxes had been taken away. So I guess there are gremlins in the postal service somewhere who are just unplugging the sorting machines and tossing them out in the parking lot.

He's apparently blinking a lot. I mean, this is part of the sort of Twitter analysis. And a lot of people think that you're lying when you're blinking. I can't vouch for that. But I think his testimony is going to generate a lot of skepticism.

He's basically saying he didn't really know about all these things that were happening. But if he didn't know, how were they happening in the first place? So there's a lot more to come after this hearing concludes today.

This is in the Senate, which Republicans control. So this is probably a little friendlier than a hearing he's going to attend in the House next week, where he's probably going to get grilled further. And I think there very well could be a congressional investigations into everything that's going on in the Postal Service.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: And Rick, I would have to imagine this timing was intentional, but just moments ago, six states sued the US Postal Service while DeJoy is testifying before the Senate committee. What's the end game for these states, do you think?

RICK NEWMAN: I think they want mail delivery to go back to normal. And they want help with the election. I mean, so the way the mail-in voting works-- I mean, we've had mail-in voting for a long time. It's not like it's new. But it's more important this year because a lot of states are trying to get more people to vote by mail, obviously to limit the number of people who show up in-person during the coronavirus pandemic.

So states need help. I mean, states, part of the job for mail-in voting is the states. They have to generate the ballots. They have to get the ballots on time-- out to people on time. They have to pay the postage for the ballots.

But they have to partner with the Postal Service on this. And they want the Postal Service to do their part. So if the states are going to all the trouble to make it easier for people to vote by mail, but the Postal Service can't process the ballots, that's, obviously, a problem. So they want the Postal Service to step up and get the job done here.

BRIAN SOZZI: Rick, the DNC is done and dusted for the week. Do you think that they-- the politicians, new and old, did enough to inspire voters to put those mail-- put those ballots into the mailbox or show up in-person wearing a mask?

RICK NEWMAN: It's definitely not a done deal. I mean, you heard a lot of entreaties from many of the speakers at the Democratic Convention-- vote early. If you're going to vote by mail, make sure you do it ahead of time. If you need help, they kept saying you can text to this number to get information about how to vote.

But it's not like everybody who might vote in November watched the Democratic Convention or watched every moment of it. A lot of people didn't. And there always are a lot of people who really don't even think about the whole process of voting until October. They might have a pretty good idea of who they're going to vote for, but not everybody thinks through the process.

So I think the Democrats had a good start. Their convention was solid. It was actually better than I expected it to be. But they have to keep up the work, all the way through election day and probably beyond, and take nothing for granted.